Is John Laidlaw Elementary School a good school?

John Laidlaw Elementary School ranks 381 st of 2067 Illinois elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend John Laidlaw Elementary School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 419 students attended John Laidlaw Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of John Laidlaw Elementary School?

Students at John Laidlaw Elementary School are 88% White, 7% Hispanic, 3% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of John Laidlaw Elementary School attend?

Students who attend John Laidlaw Elementary School usually go on to attend: Middle : McClure Junior High School High : Lyons Township High School

John Laidlaw Elementary School

Summary:

John Laidlaw Elementary School is a public elementary school in Western Springs, Illinois, serving students from kindergarten to 5th grade. The school is part of the highly-rated Western Springs School District 101, which is ranked 52 out of 813 school districts in Illinois and has a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.

John Laidlaw Elementary School has consistently ranked among the top elementary schools in Illinois, with a ranking as high as 12th out of 2,093 schools in the 2013-2014 school year. The school has maintained a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger for several years, indicating its exceptional performance. In the most recent school year (2023-2024), the school ranked 381st out of 2,067 Illinois elementary schools and received a 4-star rating. John Laidlaw's students consistently outperform the state averages in both English Language Arts and Mathematics on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness exams, with 44.9% of all students proficient or better in ELA and 55.1% proficient or better in Mathematics, compared to the state averages of 41.2% and 28.4%, respectively.

While John Laidlaw Elementary School's overall performance is exceptional, the school's statewide ranking has slightly declined, and its chronic absenteeism rate has increased from 0.6% in 2020-2021 to 7.1% in 2023-2024, which is still lower than the state average but higher than the 3.4% rate observed in 2021-2022. The school's performance is generally on par with or slightly below the other high-performing schools in the Western Springs School District 101, but significantly stronger than the nearby schools in the La Grange and Hinsdale school districts.

Detail:

Public K-5

4072 Forest Ave
Western Springs, IL 60558-1050

(708) 246-7673

District: Western Springs School District 101

SchoolDigger Rank:
381^st of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $15,219

Students who attend John Laidlaw Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	McClure Junior High School
High:	Lyons Township High School

Student/teacher ratio: 11.8

Number of students: 419

Racial breakdown:

White:

88.3%

Hispanic:

6.9%

Two or more races:

3.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 0.7%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare John Laidlaw Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details John Laidlaw Elementary School ranks better than 81.6% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks last among 3 ranked elementary schools in the Western Springs School District 101. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 79.39. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details John Laidlaw Elementary School has the largest elementary school student body size in the Western Springs School District 101. (See more...)

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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at John Laidlaw Elementary School is $15,219, which is the highest among 3 elementary schools in the Western Springs School District 101!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

John Laidlaw Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks John Laidlaw Elementary School 381^st of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See John Laidlaw Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Female students:

Male students:

White students:

Western Springs School District 101:

SchoolDigger ranks Western Springs School District 101 52^nd of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for John Laidlaw Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at John Laidlaw Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	88.57	70^th	2020	96.5%
2004	88.96	54^th	2030	97.3%
2005	86.29	94^th	2022	95.4%
2006	86.47	62^nd	2086	97.0%
2007	85.99	57^th	2095	97.3%
2008	87.51	58^th	2092	97.2%
2009	88.64	33^rd	2120	98.4%
2010	86.09	100^th	2139	95.3%
2011	89.03	26^th	2147	98.8%
2012	88.67	25^th	2166	98.8%
2013	95.22	13^th	2167	99.4%
2014	95.52	12^th	2093	99.4%
2015	98.10	32^nd	2052	98.4%
2016	93.52	108^th	2046	94.7%
2017	96.87	41^st	2044	98.0%
2018	95.24	69^th	2037	96.6%
2019	94.13	86^th	2086	95.9%
2022	96.58	56^th	2082	97.3%
2023	84.71	279^th	2077	86.6%
2024	79.39	381^st	2067	81.6%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Female students at John Laidlaw Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	94.32	69^th	1964	96.5%
2019	94.43	57^th	2019	97.2%
2022	96.26	50^th	1970	97.5%
2023	82.47	284^th	1957	85.5%
2024	74.18	434^th	1942	77.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at John Laidlaw Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	94.56	75^th	1972	96.2%
2019	92.09	111^th	2019	94.5%
2022	95.53	54^th	1977	97.3%
2023	84.60	249^th	1984	87.4%
2024	80.75	320^th	1959	83.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for White students at John Laidlaw Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	90.88	63^rd	1463	95.7%
2019	88.72	86^th	1462	94.1%
2022	92.54	49^th	1425	96.6%
2023	72.08	314^th	1419	77.9%
2024	63.61	463^rd	1392	66.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for John Laidlaw Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	262	2	5	2	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	271
1989	253	7	7	3	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	270
1990	243	4	7	2	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	256
1991	251	5	8	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	265
1992	252	3	6	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	262
1993	257	1	10	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	273
1994	279	1	5	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	285
1995	307	5	6	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	321
1996	307	5	6	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	321
1997	334	4	4	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	347
1998	328	2	5	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	337
1999	355	3	3	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	363
2000	374	2	2	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	383
2001	399	2	3	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	405
2002	413	1	5	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	426
2003	413	1	5	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	426
2004	407	0	5	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	417
2005	391	0	2	3	0	n/a	n/a	6	402
2006	364	0	2	4	0	n/a	n/a	12	382
2007	376	0	3	3	0	n/a	n/a	11	393
2008	378	0	3	5	0	n/a	n/a	13	399
2009	409	0	4	6	1	n/a	n/a	12	432
2010	405	2	2	5	0	n/a	n/a	12	426
2011	424	2	1	3	0	0	1	0	431
2012	390	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	394
2013	384	3	1	3	1	0	0	0	392
2014	357	3	6	4	0	1	0	0	371
2015	376	3	6	6	0	0	1	0	392
2016	362	2	8	7	0	0	4	0	383
2017	358	4	8	6	0	1	9	0	386
2018	355	4	8	15	0	0	13	0	395
2019	375	3	5	11	0	0	13	0	407
2020	363	2	3	15	1	0	12	0	396
2021	388	3	5	12	0	0	14	0	422
2022	364	2	4	23	0	0	19	0	412
2023	370	2	4	29	0	0	14	0	419

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at John Laidlaw Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	271	15.5	17.4	n/a
1989	270	15.0	18.0	n/a
1990	256	15.0	17.0	n/a
1991	265	16.0	16.5	n/a
1992	262	16.0	16.3	n/a
1993	273	15.0	18.2	n/a
1994	285	14.5	19.7	n/a
1995	321	15.0	21.4	n/a
1996	321	15.0	21.4	n/a
1997	347	17.0	20.4	n/a
1998	337	18.0	18.7	n/a
1999	363	19.7	18.4	n/a
2000	383	20.2	19.0	n/a
2001	405	22.0	18.4	n/a
2002	426	24.3	17.5	0
2003	426	24.3	17.5	0
2004	417	25.0	16.7	0
2005	402	23.0	17.5	0
2006	382	21.0	18.2	0
2007	393	19.0	20.7	0
2008	399	18.0	22.2	0
2009	432	18.0	24.0	0
2010	426	18.6	22.9	0
2011	431	18.5	23.2	0
2012	394	n/a	n/a	0
2013	392	26.0	15.0	n/a
2014	371	28.6	12.9	n/a
2015	392	30.0	13.0	0.8
2016	383	32.0	11.9	0.8
2017	386	32.8	11.7	0.8
2018	395	33.5	11.7	0.8
2019	407	31.5	12.9	0.7
2020	396	29.3	13.5	0.8
2021	422	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	412	33.5	12.2	0.7
2023	419	35.3	11.8	n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio John Laidlaw Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	271	15.5	17.4	n/a
1989	270	15.0	18.0	n/a
1990	256	15.0	17.0	n/a
1991	265	16.0	16.5	n/a
1992	262	16.0	16.3	n/a
1993	273	15.0	18.2	n/a
1994	285	14.5	19.7	n/a
1995	321	15.0	21.4	n/a
1996	321	15.0	21.4	n/a
1997	347	17.0	20.4	n/a
1998	337	18.0	18.7	n/a
1999	363	19.7	18.4	n/a
2000	383	20.2	19.0	n/a
2001	405	22.0	18.4	n/a
2002	426	24.3	17.5	0
2003	426	24.3	17.5	0
2004	417	25.0	16.7	0
2005	402	23.0	17.5	0
2006	382	21.0	18.2	0
2007	393	19.0	20.7	0
2008	399	18.0	22.2	0
2009	432	18.0	24.0	0
2010	426	18.6	22.9	0
2011	431	18.5	23.2	0
2012	394	n/a	n/a	0
2013	392	26.0	15.0	n/a
2014	371	28.6	12.9	n/a
2015	392	30.0	13.0	0.8
2016	383	32.0	11.9	0.8
2017	386	32.8	11.7	0.8
2018	395	33.5	11.7	0.8
2019	407	31.5	12.9	0.7
2020	396	29.3	13.5	0.8
2021	422	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	412	33.5	12.2	0.7
2023	419	35.3	11.8	n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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